1918 Oswald Spengler publishes the first volume of his The Decline of the West. Spengler held that history follows definite laws of growth and decay that are observable in the careers of all cultures. Tracing the unfolding of these laws in his own era, he predicted that Western culture, already well into its twilight, would experience further decline as a future of rationalism, mass manipulation, and material expression succeeded the profound art, religion, and philosophy of the past. In later nationalistic political tracts Spengler contended that Germany, with its Prussian authoritarian tradition, could dominate this future.